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Action Comics Vol 1 68
Supporting Characters: * * * Antagonists: * Beaker Beales * Sparky Hahn * Tug Graff Other Characters: * Hank Beaker * Pete Locations: * ** *** Vehicles: * U.S. Battleship | Writer2_1 = Joe Samachson | Penciler2_1 = Mort Meskin | Inker2_1 = Joe Kubert | StoryTitle2 = Vigilante: "The Duke Goes to the Dogs" | Synopsis2 = The notorious gangster Duke Daggett has his eyes on a ten thousand dollar prize at the annual dog show. He wants his mutt to win the competition, not just for the money, but to prove that he always had the best of everything, including best dog. He tells his boys not to pull any jobs until after he gets the blue ribbon. But later, the temptation is just too great, as one of the dogs owners, Mr. Pierrepont Vanderhof, heads home for the evening with a wad of bills in his pocket. The boys figure if they follow him home before robbing him, it won't interfere with the boss's plan. On the other side of the kennel, Stuff, the Chinatown Kid, with his own dog "Whitey", hears everything and goes to warn Greg. Inside the luxurious Vanderhof estate, Daggett's gang have their guns drawn on Mr. Vanderhof, demanding his money. A lasso yanks the weapon out of one thug's hand, followed by a righteous punch to the jaw from the Vigilante. Vig and Stuff chase the gang out of the house. Instead of any kind of thanks, however, the rich couple stick their noses up at the two crimefighters and simply ask them to leave at once. The Vanderhofs don't care to hear any excuses; to them, the Vigilante was just another hoodlum making trouble. The dog show is closed for the night, which doesn't stop Duke Daggett and his gang from breaking in. Duke is willing to forgive his boys for going against his orders, if they help him give the other dogs a quick trim. By the time Vigilante and Stuff drop in, Vanderhof's prized hound has already been trimmed naked. The scissors are shot out of Duke's hand. Another gangster gets his suspenders cut by Stuff, putting the thug out of the fight due to having to hold his pants up. Duke gets knocked to the ground by a swift right hook. Just when it looks like victory is around the corner for Vig, one of the dogs gets anxious from all the excitement and runs between his legs, tripping the hero up. The gang surrounds him in an instant, and beats him unconscious! Stuff receives a less severe but equally effective knock on the head! The next time Greg and Stuff open their eyes, they are hanging high above the ground by a rope. Down below, Duke secures the end of the rope to a dog bone, which is itself tied to a stake. He isn't about to kill them on his own, but if they feel like committing suicide, who is he to stop them? That's what it will look like, once the dogs chew through the bone, snapping the line, which then sends them plummeting to the ground in a splat! Duke and the gang leave as the dogs begin to feast. Stuff spots his dog Whitey in the group, calling to him to chase the other hounds off. Whitey obeys his master, but the bone has already been chewed too thin. It is going to crack! Stuff tells Whitey to grab the bone just as it breaks in two, and goes up with the rope. The dog's added weight slows the duo's descent to a speed where they can land safely. The next day is the final judgement for Best Dog. The vote has come down to two, Duke's mutt, and Stuff's hound Whitey. The final test is obedience; a cat is let loose to see if the dogs can resist giving chase. To Duke's dismay, only Whitey manages to stay put. When Stuff and Whitey are declared the winners, Duke angrily pulls out his gun, only to have the Vigilante jump out of the crowd and punch him in the face again! The police soon arrive to take the Daggett gang away. Stuff swells with pride at his dog's win. Greg reminds him to donate his ten-thousand dollar winnings to the allied war chest, so it can be swollen too. | Appearing2 = Featured Characters: * Supporting Characters: * Antagonists: * Duke Daggett Other Characters: * Whitey (A dog) * Pierrepont Vanderhof * Earl of Bullingthrow Locations: * ** *** Items: * Vigilante's Lasso | Appearing3 = Featured Characters: * Antagonists: * Other Characters: * Unnamed Lieutenant * Peruvian High Priest Locations: * ** | Writer4_1 = Joseph Greene | Penciler4_1 = Bernard Baily | Inker4_1 = Bernard Baily | StoryTitle4 = Americommando: "Between Dishonor and Death" | Synopsis4 = A U.S. Navy convoy, carrying men and munitions through the South Pacific is attacked by Japanese warships. The convoy's destroyers rush to defend their cargo, but the Japanese have brought along a battleship. One by one, the U.S. destroyers are sunk, yet when only one remains and all seems lost, the battleship is suddenly incapacitated by an explosion from within! The survivors are taken aboard, and then the Captain gives orders to chase down the retreating Japanese warships. It's reported that one of the survivors is American. Curious, the captain has him brought to the bridge, and is surprised to see none other than the Americommando! The masked hero tells the captain to return to the convoy, because the Japanese already know its position, and are sure to send subs to attack it. The Captain would like to know how they found out about the convoy in the first place. Americommando shamefully admits that he was the one who told them about it; an act of treason. He explains: :A convoy of reinforcements has been sent to reinforce some Marines that are holding an island. The Marines have been heavily shelled by the Japanese, and their rations and ammunition are running out. Their radio is also smashed, so they don't even know that help was even coming, and were likely to give up the beach-head and retreat further inland. And if that happens, the convoy won't be able to unload its supplies and troops. :So Americommando was sent out, in a fighter plane, to let the unit know they had to hold the beach for only a little longer. But en route to the island, Tex was shot down by a Japanese battleship's anti-aircraft guns. The battleship crew had rescued him from the sea and brought him before the Captain, who found Americommando's written orders on his person. Thus he had found out about the convoy. Americommando was tossed in the brig. He managed to escape, though, during the battle. When he saw the American destroyers being sunk, he knew he had to do something! He had rushed past a startled crew, towards the munitions storage. With a match and some oil, he starts a fire, then escaped before the resulting explosion! The Captain of the U.S. destroyer considers Americommando's story. He decides that single-handedly destroying a Japanese battleship made up for his mistake, and drops the treason charge. He then ordered the ship to come about, and return to defend the convoy! Eventually, after a fighting its way past a wolfpack of enemy subs, the convoy makes it safely to the Marines at the beach. | Appearing4 = Featured Characters: * Antagonists: * Other Characters: * Destroyer Captain Locations: * ** South Vehicles: * American Destroyers * American Freighters and Troopships * Japanese Battleship, Submarines, and other Warships * Japanese Fighter Planes | Appearing5 = Featured Characters: * Antagonists: * Arthur Arton Other Characters: * Mr. Standish Locations: * | Notes = * Published by Detective Comics, Inc. * ''Superman Meets Susie'' is reprinted in . * Vigilante and Stuff both get knocked unconcious. * Also in this issue: ** "Romeo the Robot" a 4-page humor story by Jack Farr. | Trivia = | Recommended = | Links = }}